Jarolím looking to end English hoodoo

SK Slavia Praha's new Eden Stadium will host its first UEFA Cup group-stage match as Aston Villa FC make a debut trip to Prague, looking to maintain a fine record against Czech opponents.

• This is Slavia and Villa's first meeting in UEFA club competition.

• Slavia have played eight games against English sides over the years, winning one, drawing two and losing five. That lone victory and one of those two draws came in Prague.

• Slavia played four games against Premier League clubs last season. In the UEFA Champions League group stage, they lost 7-0 at Arsenal FC but drew 0-0 at home and then lost 2-1 at home against Tottenham Hotspur FC in the UEFA Cup Round of 32, drawing the return leg 1-1 in London.

• Karel Jarolím has been Slavia's coach for six of their eight games against teams from England, with his personal record reading drawn two and lost four. He has thus never led his side to victory against Premier League opponents.

• This will be Slavia's first competitive game against an English side since the reopening of their Eden Stadium. The new venue was inaugurated with a 5-0 win against Oxford University AFC on 7 May 2008. The university XI had been the first English team to come to Prague back in 1899 when they played a friendly fixture against Slavia, the English students winning 3-0.

• Slavia have yet to score or concede a European goal at Eden since the stadium was reopened, drawing both of their UEFA club competition home games this season 0-0.

• Worryingly, Slavia have gone five European home fixtures without a win, scoring just once in the course of those matches.

• This will be Villa's fifth game against opponents from the Czech Republic, having met FC Baník Ostrava and FK Marila Příbram in previous UEFA club competition ties. Their record reads won three and drawn one, with a draw and a victory in their previous matches on Czech soil.

• Villa manager Martin O'Neill never faced Czech opposition in his playing days, but took on Slavia's league rivals FK Teplice in a 2003/04 UEFA Cup third round game as Celtic FC coach, with his charges winning 3-0 in Glasgow and losing 1-0 in the return leg.

• Villa have yet to lose a European away game under O'Neill, earning a draw and two wins in their three previous matches on their travels under his stewardship.

• Two Slavia players have experience of English football. Defender Martin Latka lived in Villa's home city while on loan with local rivals Birmingham City FC in 2006, though he never played in a derby game.

• Midfielder Vladimír Šmicer was at Liverpool FC from 1999 to 2005, during which time he played in five matches against Villa. His side won three of those encounters and drew the remaining two, and Šmicer scored in one of the wins, a 2-1 triumph at Villa Park on 26 December 2001.

• Šmicer and Villa striker John Carew also came face to face in a two-legged play-off to reach the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, with the Czech Republic beating Norway 1-0 twice to progress. Šmicer scored the only goal in the first leg.

• Slavia successfully reached the knockout stages in their only previous UEFA Cup group-stage campaign in 2005/06.

• This is Slavia's first UEFA Cup group-stage game of the season. Villa won their opener 2-1 at home against AFC Ajax, thanks to first-half goals from Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry.

• Ajax are at home against MŠK Žilina in Matchday 2's other Group F game. Hamburger SV are the only team in the section not in action on Thursday.